Hardly any fitness topic is as surrounded by half-knowledge as sport during pregnancy. Some hear "whatever you do, don't exert yourself now", others see pictures of pregnant women at the barbell. This article summarises what update Akademie teaches in the Schwangerschaft und Sport workshop: what changes in the body, which forms of loading make sense and which do not — and where the limit lies. One thing first: no text replaces a medical assessment. Whether and how you may train is decided by your doctor or your midwife, not by a blog article and not by your trainer either.
Why movement is beneficial during pregnancy
The basic position taken in the training is clear: movement belongs to a healthy pregnancy. The arguments taught in the course as a guide for coaches:
- more economical cardiac work and stabilisation of blood pressure
- improved venous return — relevant with varicose veins and heavy legs
- strengthening of the immune system and of psychophysical regulation
- better mobility, stretchability and elasticity
- build-up of muscle strength, fewer complaints in the musculoskeletal system
- lower risk of gestational diabetes, more moderate weight gain for mother and child
On top of that: the respiratory and cardiovascular systems are prepared for the strenuous birth, and endurance helps you to bear the pain of labour better. If you have been little active so far, you do not have to go to a gym for this — simply more everyday movement has an effect. What is important, though, is the rule from the course: during pregnancy you do not take up a sport that you have not already practised beforehand.
What changes in the body
Cardiovascular system
Blood volume increases by around 1.5 litres, peripheral vascular resistance falls and with it blood pressure. Heart rate rises by about 10 to 15 beats per minute, because more work is demanded. Practical consequence: heart rate values from the time before pregnancy are no longer a valid yardstick. How heart rate and intensity relate in general is explained in the article on endurance training and heart rate — during pregnancy you additionally steer by subjective perception.
Breathing
The respiratory rate rises, breathing becomes mechanically harder as the belly grows, and shortness of breath occurs sooner. A session in which you can no longer speak is therefore not a matter of ambition but a reason to stop.
Connective tissue, posture and pelvis
Due to hormones, ligaments, tendons and muscles become softer and less stable. At the same time body posture changes, which leads to tension. The pelvic ring loosens, and symphysis pain and difficulty walking can occur. For training this means: good footwear with support and a footbed, no end-range stretching — and caution with anything carrying a risk of falling or twisting an ankle.
Abdominal muscles
The straight abdominal muscle is stretched extremely and separates along the midline: rectus diastasis. It is a normal adaptation, not an injury. How to check it after the birth and rebuild it is covered in the article on training after pregnancy.
Strength training: desirable, but with guard rails
Strength training is expressly sensible during pregnancy — it improves the stability of the longitudinal axis and general well-being. The academy's guideline for fitness training during pregnancy is very concrete about it:
- training weight not above 20 kg
- short sets: no more than three minutes per exercise
- perform exercises slowly (tempo 3-2-3-2)
- no breath-holding pressure — always breathe out during the loading movement, breathe in when releasing
- from the 20th week of pregnancy onwards, stop training the straight abdominal muscles
- the deep and lateral abdominal muscles may be trained until the birth
- from around the 30th week onwards, no exercises lying on your back (vena cava syndrome)
- keep to recovery phases of 48 hours
Sensible focal points are the muscles around the hip — abductors, adductors, gluteus, transversus abdominis — as well as their mobility and balance. Heavy lifting and carrying is dropped by the third trimester at the latest.
Endurance training: stay aerobic
Endurance is regarded in the course as very valuable — with the image that the birth itself is like a marathon. It improves the capacity of the heart and lungs, and both mother and child are better supplied with oxygen. What is decisive is the intensity: training should always be in the aerobic range, because lactate is harmful for the foetus. With anaerobic loading, supply can come at the expense of placental blood flow. Rule of thumb throughout the pregnancy: no longer than 15 seconds in the anaerobic range. Intensive metabolic circuits ("metabolic training") therefore drop out.
Jogging is rather not recommended during pregnancy — because of the impact on joints, pelvic floor and abdomen, an unfavourable combination when the supporting apparatus is hormonally loosened. High-impact sessions are unsuitable especially in early pregnancy, because during the implantation phase there is an increased risk of miscarriage. Well suited instead are brisk walking, cycling or the ergometer, swimming and aqua fitness as well as the cross trainer.
Two points from the course are quickly forgotten: core temperature should not exceed 39 degrees — in summer the same precautions apply as with training in the heat, only stricter. And fluid balance: around 0.5 litres before training, about 1 litre during the session — why this counts beyond sport is shown in the article on fluid intake in everyday life. Clothing: loose and not synthetic.
Trimester by trimester
The training divides pregnancy into three sections:
- 1st trimester (weeks 1 to 16), "time of adaptation": continue existing activities. Tiredness, nausea and circulatory instability characterise this phase. The straight abdominal muscles may still be trained, high-impact activity is avoided.
- 2nd trimester (weeks 17 to 28), "time of well-being": the body has adapted, training runs most smoothly. From the 20th week onwards no more straight abdominal work, loading submaximal and aerobic, enough fluid and rest periods.
- 3rd trimester (weeks 29 to 40), "time of strain": abdominal girth and the demands on all organs increase, resilience decreases. Reduce training loads, avoid high core temperatures and heavy lifting.
That people training adapt their programme to hormonal phases is not, incidentally, an invention of pregnancy — the article on strength training and the menstrual cycle shows the same principle in everyday life.
The pelvic floor
The pelvic floor is the most important support for the uterus and the unborn child, it carries the organs of the abdominal cavity and closes the urethra — including under pressure waves. Well-trained yet flexible pelvic floor muscles make the birth easier and can protect against injury. It never works alone: a strong transversus takes load off it during holding work and cushions pressure, and via the diaphragm it is directly connected to breathing. That is exactly why breathing technique in every strength exercise is not a detail but pelvic floor protection. Exercises and anatomy for this are in the article on pelvic floor training. After the birth it remains the central topic — even when everyday life with a baby allows little structure, as the article on training with a child shows.
When no training takes place
There are situations in which fitness training is dropped — not "reduced" but dropped, until the doctor gives clearance again. The course names, among others: feeling unwell, vomiting and hyperemesis; shortness of breath, dizziness, chest pain or headache; vaginal bleeding; loss of amniotic fluid; decreasing fetal movements; premature contractions or threatened premature birth; placenta praevia; fetal growth restriction; multiple pregnancies; placental abruption in a previous pregnancy; underlying conditions such as asthma or heart failure. And as a basic principle: pregnant women should listen to their gut feeling — subjective bodily perception is expressly a steering criterion in the course.
Course tip from update Akademie: Pregnant participants have long been an everyday reality in group classes — and many instructors feel unsure about it. The Grundlagen Gruppenfitness programme provides the methodological foundation for leading classes safely and responsibly. If you want to work specifically with pregnant women, you can deepen this in the in-house Schwangerschaft und Sport workshop: from the changes in the organs through the guideline for fitness training and the pelvic floor to limits, risks and the guide for coaches.
Frequently asked questions about sport during pregnancy
May I start strength training during pregnancy?
You should not newly take up a sport during pregnancy that you have not practised beforehand. Gentle, guided strengthening and everyday movement are possible — but that belongs discussed with your doctor in advance.
How heavy may I lift?
The guideline names a maximum training weight of 20 kg, short sets of at most three minutes, a slow tempo and no breath-holding pressure. Heavy lifting in everyday life is dropped above all in the third trimester.
Is jogging forbidden during pregnancy?
It is not "forbidden", but it is not recommended — because of the impact on joints, pelvic floor and abdomen. In early pregnancy, high-impact activity should be avoided entirely. Brisk walking, cycling, swimming and aqua fitness are the better alternatives.
How do I notice that the intensity is too high?
When you can no longer speak, when dizziness, shortness of breath or pain occur, or when you feel drained rather than refreshed after the session.
When can I train again after the birth?
The course names a training start around six weeks after a spontaneous birth and eight weeks after a caesarean section, following a medical check and ideally with a postnatal recovery course. High-impact activity and stop-and-go patterns stay out of the picture during the breastfeeding and postnatal recovery phase.
Conclusion
Sport during pregnancy is not a question of "allowed or not" but of dosing and selection. Strength training with moderate weights, a calm tempo and clean breathing is desirable; endurance belongs in the aerobic range; jogging and high-impact activity move into the background; the pelvic floor remains the central topic throughout. The trimesters set the framework, your own perception the fine-tuning — and medical supervision the binding limit.
